It's Monday 4/30! What Are You Reading?

Monday already?  The weekend went by in a flash - very busy!  In fact, I've had almost no time for writing reviews the past few weeks, so my backlog keeps growing!  My family and I have been reading, though:

• I finished the middle-grade novel The Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley and enjoyed it, though it was different than I expected.
• Next I read The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, a novel which was short-listed for the Man Booker prize.  I'd heard it mentioned on several of my favorite book podcasts, so I requested it from the library.  It was very good, a literary novel but surprisingly engaging and even a bit suspenseful.
• I am now reading Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson for one of my book groups that meets this week.  I love this book!!  I hate to set it down, have been staying up way too late reading (promising myself, "Just one more page..."), and even trying to squeeze in 5 minutes of reading time wherever I can.  It's hugely suspenseful, about a woman who's lost her memory, so she wakes each morning having no idea who she is or who the man sleeping beside her is.  The bulk of the novel is her journal, where she is trying to put together the puzzle of her past and how she came to be this way.  Fabulous!
• I am still listening to Liesl and Po, a middle-grade audio by Lauren Oliver which is very good so far.
• My husband, Ken, finished Black Hills by Dan Simmons, a historical novel set in one of our favorite places, the Black Hills region of South Dakota.  He said it was very good.
• He is now reading The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman on his Kindle, a novel set during World War II.
• Jamie, 17, hasn't been reading nearly as much as he usually does because he has just one month left to finish all his school work in time for graduation (he missed over 70 days of school this year due to medical problems), so he's been concentrating on that.  He and I were reading some ancient Persian poetry for his World Lit class last week (it is just as exciting as it sounds).  For fun, he is still re-reading one of his all-time favorite novels Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy.
• Jamie finished An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina, the autobiography that inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda, for his World Lit class.  He said it was an excellent book, fascinating and stunning, and that I have to read it!
• Craig is reading Attack of the Fiend, Book 4 in The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney.  He loves this series!

So, lots of good readings last week, but no blog posts other than my Monday summary! I am hoping to get back on track this week.

What are you and your family reading?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

It's Monday 4/23! What Are You Reading?

Busy week!  And it's only going to get busier over the next 2 months...my oldest son is graduating from high school, my youngest "graduates" from middle school and is playing the lead in his school musical, soccer season is in full swing...whew!  We had house guests this weekend, too (my mom and her husband), so none of us had much time for books this past week, but here's what we are reading:

• I finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and loved it.  I went to hear the author talk on Wednesday (the book was our County Reads selection for this year), and he was wonderful - very entertaining, with a great sense of humor!
• I am now reading a middle-grade novel, The Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley, a favorite storyteller and entertainer of ours.  It's very good so far but different than I expected.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading Black Hills by Dan Simmons and enjoying it.  We are now planning to visit the South Dakota Black Hills this summer (he has family there), and he says the novel is making him excited to visit again!
• Jamie, 17, is still re-reading one of his favorite novels, Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy.  He hasn't had much reading time lately because he has been back in school most days and trying to catch up so he can graduate on time.
• Jamie is also reading An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina, an autobiography by the man who inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda, for his World Lit class.  Jamie says it is an eye-opening, fascinating book.  I think I will have to read this one, too!
• Craig, 14, is reading Book 4 of The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney, Attack of the Fiend.  He really enjoys this series!
• I am listening to Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver on audio, a middle-grade novel about a girl who befriends a ghost.  It's very good so far.
• And, since my mom is staying with us for a few more days, I will include her in this week's overview.  She borrowed and just started reading The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, based on my recommendation.  She is laughing already!

I posted a review of The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid last week but didn't have time for any other blog posts.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

So many gorgeous flowering trees in our neighborhood last week!

Nonfiction Review: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

My husband and I have enjoyed many of Bill Bryson’s books, especially A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, but I think I have a new favorite now: Bryson’s memoir of growing up in the 1950’s, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.  I bought it for my husband several years ago and have been meaning to read it myself.  I finally tackled my TBR shelf (thanks in part to my 12 in ’12 Challenge), and laughed my way through this amusing and engaging memoir.

Bryson’s memoir is an interesting mix of observations of the time (the 1950’s) and remembrances of his own childhood.  He is well known for his ability to find the humor in any situation, and this book is no exception.  Right from the first pages, I was laughing out loud and reading passages to my husband (even though he’d already read the book himself!). 

Bryson describes the 1950’s as a time of happiness and prosperity, post-war and pre-hippies, in central Iowa where he grew up in a classic Midwest American suburb.  He uses fascinating facts and figures to complement his first-person narrative, like this passage:

(In 1951…) Americans owned 80 percent of the world’s electrical goods, controlled two-thirds of the world’s productive capacity, produced more than 40 percent of its electricity, 60 percent of its oil, and 66 percent of its steel.  The 5 percent of people on Earth who were Americans had more wealth than the other 95 percent combined.

In many cases, he combines these sorts of observations of the time with hilarious tales of his own adventures, often laced with Bryson’s trademark exaggeration, as here where he is talking about what it was like to be a kid in the 50’s:

Life in Kid World, wherever you went, was unsupervised, unregulated, and robustly – at times, insanely – physical, and yet it was a remarkably peaceable place.  Kids’ fights never went too far, which is extraordinary when you consider how ill-controlled children’s tempers are.  Once when I was about six, I saw a kid throw a rock at another kid, from quite a distance, and it bounced off the target’s head (quite beautifully I have to say) and made him bleed.  This was talked about for years.  The kid who did it was sent for about ten thousand hours of therapy.

He reminisces about the freedom and joys of being a kid at that time and in that place, pokes fun at his father’s eccentricities (that passage about his habit of wearing nothing from the waist down at night is hilarious!) and his mother’s cooking, and recounts all sorts of adventures he and his friends had.  The book is just plain fun.  It is also surprisingly informative.  I really enjoyed this delightful trip down memory lane with Bryson, laughing all the way.

268 pages, Broadway Books

P.S. If you enjoyed this book, you might also like another humorous memoir of growing up in the 1950’s, Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Glidner, which my neighborhood book group overwhelmingly enjoyed.

 

It's Monday 4/16! What Are You Reading?

We are back home from spring break, after visiting my father-in-law in Oklahoma last week.  It was a good visit but a loooong drive home (mostly in the rain) this weekend.  The weather was so bad, we weren't even able to camp; we had to stay in hotels on the way home.  But now we're home...and facing lots of unpacking and catching up today.

We enjoyed some good books while we were away:

• I have been reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  I absolutely LOVE this novel about two children separated by the Japanese internment during World War II.  I just want to keep reading and hate to set it down!  The author is speaking here in my town this week, so I am hoping to attend his talk (this is our County Reads selection).
• My husband, Ken, is still reading Black Hills, a historical novel by Dan Simmons set in one of our favorite places, where he has family.
• After finishing The Farsala Trilogy by Hilari Bell, Jamie, 17, re-read one of his all-time favorite novels, Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy.
• Craig, 14, is reading Book 4 of The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney, Attack of the Fiend.  I read some of it with him during our trip.  He loves this series!
• In the car, we finished listening to Ship Breaker by award-winning author Paolo Bagicalupi, a  teen/YA dystopian novel (and a Printz honor winner) that we all enjoyed.  It was dark, action-packed, and gripping.
• And I read a big stack of magazines in the car.  That's my guilty pleasure for long car rides!  I never have time to look through magazines normally, so they just stack up.  I can't read books in the car without getting sick, but I can manage flipping through magazines, so I enjoyed that little break.

On vacation last week at my father-in-law's, I had plenty of time away from my to-do lists, so I wrote two book reviews:  the audio book Falling Together by Marisa De los Santos and the wonderful middle-grade novel Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood.  I also posted a discussion of the movie The Hunger Games which we finally had a chance to see while we were on vacation!

What are you and your  family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted at Teach Mentor Texts.)

Enjoying a campfire in Tennessee

Fiction Review: Falling Together

Last year, I read Love Walked In by Marisa De los Santos and enjoyed the novel, so I was eager to read her latest book, Falling Together.  I listened to it on audio, and I enjoyed the story and the narration, though I felt that it sort of rambled and lost focus at times.

Falling Together tells a rather complex story of three best friends who met in college.  Pen, Cat, and Will (yes, unusual names) were inseparable throughout their college years and felt they had a unique, unbreakable bond that would last a lifetime.  But, after college, they agreed to split up and have no contact with each other, for reasons that are explained later in the novel.  Six years later, Pen and Will each get an urgent and mysterious e-mail from Cat, asking them to come to their college reunion to meet her.

The novel switches back and forth between the present and the past, gradually filling in the story of how the friends met and, eventually, why they parted.  In the present storyline, the reader learns what Pen and Will have each been doing since they said good-bye and how their lives have changed in the intervening years.

It’s a good story, unique and well told, with likable main characters.  At times, I felt that the narrative wandered a bit and lost focus, occasionally straying off on a tangent.  This could have been in part due to the way I listen to audio books; I rarely have more than 15 minutes at a time to listen, so I hear the story in short increments.  But overall, I liked Pen and Will, and I wanted them to reunite with Cat and work out all of their problems.  It’s a story not only about friendship but also about love and family. 

HarperAudio

It's Monday 4/9! What Are You Reading?

Happy spring break!  I hope everyone had a nice Easter.  We were camping Easter morning (but the bunny found us!) and arrived in time for an Easter dinner with my father-in-law in Oklahoma.

Not a lot of time for reading last week, between packing for our trip and several days spent driving (I can't read in the car, unfortunately), though the road trip gave us a chance to listen to audio books.  Here's what we read last week:

• I just (this morning!) finished The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart.  I was only about halfway through it when my book group met last Wednesday, so I excused myself to the bathroom while they discussed the ending!  I really enjoyed this unique British book about love and relationships with a fabulous sense of humor.
• My husband, Ken, is reading and enjoying Black Hills by Dan Simmons, a historical novel set in South Dakota's Black Hills, a favorite vacation spot of ours where some of my husband's family lives.
• Jamie, 17, has no problem reading in the car, so he reads nonstop on road trips!  Before we left home, he read Book 4 of the Tunnels series by Roderick Gordon, Closer.  He loves this series and can't wait for Book 5's release in May!
• During our drive, Jamie reread one of his favorite series, The Farsala Trilogy by Hilari Bell.  He read Book 1: Fall of a Kingdom, Book 2: Rise of a Hero, and Book 3: Forging the Sword.  This is one of Jamie's all-time favorites; he really wants his brother to read it.
• Craig, 14, is reading Book 4 of The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney, Attack of the Fiend.  This is the furthest he's ever read in a series, so it must be pretty good!
• And...our audio books!  We finally found our own copy of our family's all-time favorite audio book, Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater, so we started our trip by listening to that...again!  This is probably the 5th time we've listened to it, and we still laughed like crazy.  Many lines from this book have made it into our family lingo.  It's a silly little middle-grade novel, but Daniel Pinkwater is just hilarious - both his writing and his reading of the audio.  Classic.
• We also started a new teen/YA dystopian audio, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bagicalupi, which won multiple awards.  It is very good so far, a unique story of a grim future on the Gulf Coast with a likable main character.

No time for reviews last week, but I did post my summary of Books Read in March.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted at Teach Mentor Texts.)

Easter Morning at Wooly Hollow State Park, Arkansas

Books Read in March

Wow, March seemed to go by in a flash!  And, oddly enough, it came in like a lamb, with 80 degree weather, and went out like a lion this week, with temperatures in the 30's at night and high winds.  I love seeing the bursts of color everywhere and am looking forward to April.

In March, I read:

• Irises by Francisco X. Stork, a teen/YA novel.
• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, a unique novel I read for our library's book discussion.
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, a teen/YA novel and my first John Green, finally!
• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a hilarious childhood memoir by Bill Bryson.
• Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood, a middle-grade novel set in Mississippi in the 60's.
• Falling Together by Marisa De los Santos, a novel listened to on audio.

So, a total of six books - that seems to be my usual monthly achievement!  I read/listened to 2 adult novels, 1 memoir, 2 teen/YA novels, and a middle-grade novel so that was a nice mix. I'm a bit behind in reviews but hope to catch up over spring break.

My favorite?  Tough call, but I think I enjoyed The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid the most, though The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was a close second.

As for my 2012 Reading Challenges, I added 5 new states to my Where Are You Reading list: California, Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Pennsylvania and added a second book set in Tennessee.  I didn't read any new dystopian novels this month, but I did read my first memoir of the year for the Memorable Memoirs Challenge.  For the 12 in '12 Challenge, I added one more book (for a total of 3 so far) from my TBR shelf, all 3 recommended by my husband.  It's clear I should have listened to him and read these long ago!  And I finally added one title to the What's In a Name Challenge: something you'd see in the sky (thunderbolt).  I was starting to wonder if I'd ever make progress on that one!

How was your reading month in March? What were your favorites?

It's Monday 4/2! What Are Your Reading?

Wow, April already.  Funny thing is that it felt like spring in early March and now it feels almost wintry again!  March came in like a lamb and went out like a lion this year!

Very busy week with school stuff, soccer starting, spring break preparations, plus dealing with my younger son's knee injury (still waiting for MRI results to hear how bad it is).  As always, though, our books provided a little respite from the chaos.  Here's what we're reading:

• I finished - and thoroughly enjoyed - Bill Bryson's memoir of growing up in the 50's, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.  Interesting and very entertaining.
• I also finished (finally) my audio book, Falling Together by Marisa De los Santos, and enjoyed that one, too.
• I started a new audio, the middle-grade novel Leisl and Po by Lauren Oliver.  So far, it is reminding me a bit in tone and story of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (which is obviously a compliment!).
• Next, I read another middle-grade novel, Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood, set in 1964 in Mississippi.  It's a young girl's view of the civil rights battles going on in her small town; it was very good.
• I am now reading The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart for my neighborhood book group.  It's very good so far, quite amusing.  I waited too long to start it (again!), so I have a lot of reading to do before Wednesday!
• My husband, Ken, is reading Black Hills by Dan Simmons, a historical novel set in the Black Hills region of South Dakota.  Besides being a good novel so far, this book has special significance for Ken because part of his family lives in that area, which he has visited frequently since he was a kid.  We are thinking of going back this summer.
• On his Kindle during our son's many medical appointments this week, Ken has been reading The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman.  I may have to borrow his Kindle so I can read this one!
• Jamie, 17, finished re-reading The Books of Umber trilogy by P.W. Catanese and moved onto re-reading the Tunnels series by Brian James Williams and Roderick Gordon.  He has read Book 1: Tunnels, Book 2: Deeper, and is now reading Book 3: Freefall.  These are each over 600 pages long!  I read - and enjoyed - Tunnels but have never found the time to tackle the rest of the series.  Jamie says it just gets better and better.
• For his World Lit class, Jamie is reading An Ordinary Man, an autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, the book that inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda.  I really want to read this one when he is done with it.  
• Craig, 14, is reading more than usual because his injury is keeping him off his feet (but he is still going stir-crazy!).  He finished The Voyage of the Frog by Gary Paulsen.
• With the end of the marking period behind him, Craig went back to continue the longer novel he'd started a few weeks ago, Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney, Book 3 of The Last Apprentice series.

I posted one review last week, the teen/YA novel An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.  I also posted lists of the Top Ten Books I'd Like to Play Hooky With and Top Ten Kids/Teen Books I'd Like to Play Hooky With.

And, finally, I am looking for audio book suggestions for our upcoming family road trip and would love to hear your recommendations!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Top Ten Books I'd Play Hooky With

It's Tuesday and that means it's Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Stop by their blog to read all of the great lists this week!


Today's topic is Top Ten Books On My Shelf I'd Like to Play Hooky With.  This is an easy one for me!  My TBR shelves are always overflowing.  And the thought of it - an entire day with nothing to do but read! - just makes my heart go pitter-patter.  Maybe someday...

In the meantime I can dream.  Here are the Top Ten Books On My Shelf I'd Like to Play Hooky With:

• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen - I've been meaning to read this for ages, but it is a long one.
• The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern - I bought this for my mom for Christmas, and she loved it and lent it to me (the best kind of gift!)
• Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks - a Christmas gift from my husband; I love Brooks' novels.
• Time and Again by Jack Finney - another Christmas gift from my hubby - I love time travel plots!
• Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand - my personal hero, since she became a best-selling writer while suffering with the same illness I have - this one has been on my shelf since LAST Christmas!
• The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett & Amanda Pressner - a memoir about travel - perfect for me.
• Emma by Jane Austen - yes, I STILL haven't read any Austen!
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King - dying to read this but it is a big commitment at almost 900 pages!
• The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver - recommended by pretty much everyone I know.
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - the choice for our New Castle Country Reads program for April, I'm hoping to get to this one soon.

How about you?  What book(s) would you grab if you could play hooky for a day and do nothing but read?

(If you'd like to see my list of Top Ten Kids/Teen/YA Books I Want to Play Hooky With, check out Great Books for Kids and Teens.)

It's Monday 3/26! What Are You Reading?

What a rollercoaster week! My older son is finally doing a bit better (he's been incapacitated from his treatment for Lyme disease) and started back to school part-time last week.  He was even able to have his two best friends over this weekend, so we were all in high spirits!  Then, my younger son hurt his knee running around the yard and ended up in the ER for hours last night.  No diagnosis yet - Ortho can't see him until tomorrow - but it seems pretty severe.  The worst part?  Soccer season begins today, and Craig was so excited to be "playing up" on the high school-age team with his brother.  He's exhausted today and also pretty bummed out.

So, for the first time in months, Jamie is actually in school, and Craig is the one lying here on the couch.  I may never be alone in the house again!

Thank goodness for books to help distract us!  Last week, we read:

• I am still reading Bill Bryson's childhood memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and loving it.  It is highly entertaining, educational, and often laugh-out-loud funny.
• I am still listening to Marisa De los Santos's novel Falling Together.  I'm enjoying it, but it takes forever to listen to an audio book when you can only manage 10-minute increments!
• My husband, Ken, finished Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian yesterday and really liked it.  I'm not sure what he is starting next - probably something on his Kindle after all those hours in the ER last night.
• Jamie, 17, finished re-reading The Magician of Hoad by Margaret Mahy.  He enjoyed it but said that Maddigan's Fantasia is still his favorite of Mahy's novels.
• Next, Jamie decided to re-read a favorite trilogy, The Books of Umber by P.W. Catanese, starting with Book 1, Happenstance Found, then Book 2, Dragon Games, and he is now reading Book 3, The End of Time.
• Craig, 14, read The Voyage of the Frog by Gary Paulsen, a sailing adventure that was right up his alley!

I didn't have any time for writing reviews last week, but I hope to catch up this week.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Saturday Snapshot 3/24

At Home with Books hosts Saturday Snapshot. I took this photo last weekend, while camping at Elk Neck State Park in Maryland.

Early season views of the Elk River, looking toward the Chesapeake Bay

Hope you are enjoying a nice weekend!

It's Monday 3/19! What Are You Reading?

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend camping at nearby Elk Neck State Park in Maryland - the first time we've had our pop-up camper out of the garage in a full year!  It was just a little 24-hour getaway, but it was so nice to be outdoors (and away from the to-do lists!) in this glorious spring-like weather - we walked to the beach, enjoyed our favorite "dinner in foil" camping meal, sat around the campfire and ate s'mores....and of course, relaxed with our books!

Here's what we read this week:

• I finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, an unusual novel - I enjoyed both reading it and discussing it with my library's book group.  You can check out my review here.
• While at the library for the book discussion, I stopped by the YA section and finally - finally! - found a John Green novel to read, An Abundance of Katherines.  Thanks to all of you who've been telling me for years what a great writer Green is.  I know this isn't even one of his top, award-winning novels, but I enjoyed it very much.
• Now, I am reading Bill Bryson's hilarious memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, which has been waiting on my TBR shelf for years and recommended by my husband.  It's wonderful so far!
• My husband, Ken, is reading Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, based on my recommendation, after I read it for my neighborhood book group a couple of weeks ago.  He's enjoying it.
• Jamie, 17, had another long sick week, so he had lots of reading time.  He finished Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card (for the second time) and loved it.  He recommended it this weekend to Craig's friend who came camping with us.  Jamie and I are both anxiously awaiting Book 2, Ruins, due to be released in October.
• To Jamie's delight, Book 2 of the Beyonders series arrived from the publisher mid-week, so he first re-read Book 1, A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, then quickly moved onto Book 2, Seeds of Rebellion.  He says it was amazing! (see the photo of him enjoying the book while we were camping).
• Now, Jamie is re-reading The Magician of Hoad by Margaret Mahy.  He wanted to start with her earlier novel, Maddigan's Fantasia, but after a thorough search, we figured out that he'd lent it to a friend years ago and never got it back.  This is one of Jamie's all-time favorite authors!
• Craig, 14, is reading Book 3 of The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney, Night of the Soul Stealer.  He's enjoying this series.

Last week, I posted reviews of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender and a teen/YA novel, Irises by Francisco X. Stork.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version at Teach Mentor Texts.)

Jamie enjoying Beyonders during our camping weekend.

Fiction Review: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Unusual, unique, bizarre, strange, weird.  When I went to my local library’s book discussion on The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, these were just a few of the words used to describe the novel.  The group of about eight women was split on whether or not they liked the novel; it seems that people either love it or hate it.  I was one of the ones who loved it.

At 9 years old, Rose discovers that she can taste the emotions of the cook in the food that she eats when her mother bakes her a special lemon cake with chocolate frosting (from scratch!) for her birthday, and she is so overwhelmed with a sense of despair when she eats a piece that she can’t bear to eat more.  OK, so now you understand why this book is described as unusual, right?  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Rose’s older brother, Joseph, has problems of his own, also of the unusual variety, that Rose doesn’t understand until she is much older.  Although it’s not apparent from the inside cover blurb, the novel is as much about Joseph as it is about Rose, though it is told from Rose’s perspective.

At its heart, despite its novelties, this novel is about family relationships.  Rose’s “talent” means that she learns far more than she wants to know about not only her family but strangers as well.  For instance, learning that her cheerful, loving mother is depressed and feels hollow inside is a tough thing for a 9-year old girl to deal with.  Even the school cafeteria is fraught with danger for Rose, as eating food prepared by an angry food service employee leaves her with anger she can neither control or easily get rid of.

Rose finds ways to deal with her “special talent,” but she also learns it’s best to keep it secret, so she grows up in a fairly isolated existence, making her family even more important to her.  Her mother adores Joseph, but he obviously has some serious problems of his own that keep him at arm’s length from the rest of his family.  As Rose grows up, she learns more about her brother and herself – and tries not to learn too much about her parents through their cooking.

I was surprised to find that the author focused almost as much attention on Joseph as she did on Rose in this novel, and I didn’t understand why until the very end.  Some questions are never answered, but there is a satisfying conclusion – and some hope – for Rose.  I was able to suspend disbelief and just accept Rose’s strange talent, but the bizarre problems of Rose and her brother were just too weird for some readers.  I think it is best to go into this novel understanding that it is unusual so that you can focus on the wonderful writing and the emotional depth of the story and its characters.  I am glad to have met Rose and grateful that I can enjoy my food with taking on the emotions of the cook, though it does make me wonder what my family would taste in my cooking.

292 pages, Doubleday

 P.S. One of the women in the book discussion brought in a lemon cake with chocolate frosting to share, as long as we promised not to read her emotions from it! 

It's Monday 3/12! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday!  We had a more relaxing weekend than usual, with some of the deadlines (and pressure) for financial aid for college behind us.  Not that there isn't more we have to do, but the big-pressure items are taken care of.  And this weather is fabulous!!  Supposed to be in the mid-70's most of the week here.  It's very early for such warm temperatures, but I'm not complaining!

We all enjoyed lots of good reading this week:

• I finished a teen/YA novel, Irises by Francisco X. Stork (author of Marcelo in the Real World) last week - it was very good, though not quite as exemplary as Marcelo.
• I am now reading a novel that's been on my TBR list for a while, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.  Our local library's lunchtime book group is discussing it this week - a perfect excuse for me to read a book I've heard so many good things about.  I'm enjoying it very much (might finish it today), though it is a bit different than I expected.  I'm very interested to see how it ends.
• My husband, Ken, finished Divergent by Veronica Roth, a teen dystopian novel that my son and I both enjoyed.  He enjoyed the story but thought that aspects of the society described were unrealistic (I agree).
• Next, Ken decided to read the book I just finished, Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, before we have to return it to the library.  I loved the novel set at the end of World War II.  This is Ken's first Bohjalian.
• Thankfully, Jamie, 17, got his requested book from the library very quickly last week!  Within a couple of days, he had finished the 517-page The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima (A Seven Realms novel).  He says this is a great series.  He is tortured by the fact that the next book is not due out until October!
• Next, Jamie decided to reread a favorite of mine and his, Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card.  As with the first reading, he says it is extremely thought-provoking and wonderfully complex.  We are both anxiously awaiting book two (another one not due to be released until October!).
• Craig, 14, was having trouble getting into the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, so he switched books and is now reading Book 3 in The Last Apprentice series, Night of the Soul Stealer, by Joseph Delaney. He enjoyed Books One and Two recently.

I posted two new reviews last week: Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian and a middle-grade sci fi sequel, The Whisper by Emma Clayton.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  A kids/teen version is hosted by Teach Mentor Text.)

Snapshot Saturday 3/10

At Home with Books hosts Saturday Snapshot.   I took this photo yesterday:

The first crocuses!  Spring is on the way.

I loved seeing this sign of spring, though it seems that allergy season is also upon us, after this very mild winter!

Fiction Review: Skeletons at the Feast

I have read quite a few of Chris Bohjalian’s novels.  I absolutely loved The Double Blind and enjoyed Midwives a few months ago.  I thought Before You Know Kindness was just mediocre, though.  So, I was hopeful when my neighborhood book group chose Bohjalian’s Skeletons at the Feast for our February selection.  This novel set at the end of World War II was completely different from any of his other books but with his typical writing talents shining through.

Skeletons at the Feast is one of those novels where the story is told from multiple points of view, most of which eventually come together.  In this case, the reader sees the end of the war and the revelation of the Holocaust through several very different characters.  One of those perspectives is that of a Jewish man who has escaped from a train bound for one of the concentration camps and has spent the past two years surviving by wearing the uniforms of various dead soldiers and hiding in plain sight.

Contrasting that, and perhaps most surprising, is the perspective of an ordinary German family.  With the father and older sons off fighting the war on the eastern front against the Russians, the mother, teen daughter, and younger son are forced to flee their ancestral family home in northern Poland (then a part of Germany) as the Russian army advanced.  They are good people who have Jewish friends, but they are startlingly unaware of what is happening to Jews under Hitler’s command.  They feel pride in their German heritage and are just trying to survive.

Complicating matters is the family’s Scottish POW, Callum, who was moved from a work farm to help on their family farm when their sons had to leave to fight the war.  Callum and Anna, the eighteen-year old daughter, have secretly fallen in love.  Other characters move in and out of the story, including a young Jewish woman struggling to stay hopeful and survive in a concentration camp.  All of these characters come together in a mass exodus, as the brutal Russians approach from the east.

I knew nothing at all about this aspect of World War II – the varied refugees marching slowly westward, starving, freezing, and facing pockets of soldiers bent on killing them at the end of the war.  I had also never considered the plight of ordinary German citizens who hadn’t done anything wrong but whose whole national identity had been destroyed without their knowledge.  So, for me, this was a fascinating historical novel, written by an excellent author.

My book group was oddly split about this novel.  Most of us loved it and rated it between 8 and 10 (on a 10-point scale), but a few people disliked it and one didn’t even finish it.  Those who didn’t enjoy the novel cited too many different perspectives, including some that were not central to the story, or simply a sort of weariness of novels set during World War II.  One person thought that both the violence and the romance in the novel were too graphic.  Despite the differing views (or perhaps because of them!), we had an excellent discussion about the book, covering many varied topics.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel that combined historical fiction with a bit of romance. I always enjoy books where disparate characters’ stories eventually come together in unexpected ways; I guess I like that bit of serendipity.  I also like books that make me think about things from a different perspective, and this novel definitely did that.

400 pages, Broadway

It's Monday 3/5! What Are You Reading?

Monday already?  I am soooo tired this morning - I could barely get out of bed.  But here I am, up and alert and ready to go....well, I'm up anyway.

We all had a great reading week:

• Believe it or not, I managed to finish Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian in time for my book group meeting on Wednesday...well, I actually finished the last few pages during my book group meeting!  I loved the book - set in Germany in 1945 - and will post a review this week.
• Next I started a teen/YA novel, Irises by Francisco X. Stork (author of Marcelo in the Real World).  I'm almost finished with it and have enjoyed it.
• My husband, Ken, started Divergent by Veronica Roth, a teen dystopian novel that my son and I both enjoyed - I love when we share books in our family!
• Jamie, 17, read like crazy last week, including several huge bricks that I brought home from the library for him.  In preparation, he reread The Demon King, Book One of the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima.  Then he read Book Two, The Exiled Queen.  He is loving this series so much that he begged me to request Book Three from the library and has been asking me hourly if it is in yet!
• Since he couldn't read Book Three yet, he read another library book I got him, The Lost Hero, Book One in Rick Riordan's new series, The Heroes of Olympus.  He said it was excellent, building on the Percy Jackson series with some of the same characters but with the addition of Roman gods.
• Craig, 14, finished his Hardy Boys book and started the first book in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, The Ruins of Gorlan.
• Craig's English class is reading an excerpt from The Diary of Anne Frank in school, so we talked about that this weekend.

I wasn't feeling well most of last week, so I struggled to manage much writing time.  I posted one review this weekend, The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore, a teen sci fi novel.  I also posted a summary of Books Read in February.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, and a kidlit version is hosted at Teach Mentor Texts.)

Saturday Snapshot 3/3

At Home with Books hosts Saturday Snapshot.  I don't usually have time for blogging on weekends, but I wasn't feeling well today so I have been trying to take it easy and relax with my laptop!

I haven't taken many photos lately (except the beach one which I've already posted here twice!), so I went outside and took this one especially for this purpose:

Snowdrops: A Hint of Better Things to Come on a Cold, Dreary Day

Spring is just around the corner.  Hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Books Read in February

February was a little longer than usual this year, but it still seemed to go by quickly.  I am quite happy to say good-bye to February, since we had a lot of illness in our house and a good dose of cabin fever, despite the good weather!  Lately, I have felt like books have saved my sanity, providing an escape into other worlds when my own world seems too exhausting, chaotic, and overwhelming.

So, despite its many lows, February was a great reading month for me!  I read:

• The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore, a teen audio novel
• The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos, a novel read for one of my book groups
• The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin, a teen novel
• Breathless by Dean Koontz, a mystical, magical novel
• The Whisper by Emma Clayton, a middle-grade sci fi sequel
• Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, a World War II novel read for my other book group

It was an all-fiction month, and I enjoyed all of these novels.  I finished one audio and enjoyed a nice mix of 3 kids/teen books and 3 adult novels.  I think my favorite was the one I just finished last night, Skeletons at the Feast, though Breathless was a close second.  And it looks like I am falling behind on my reviews, so I will try to post some soon.

As for my 2012 Reading Challenges, I added 4 new states and 2 new countries to my Where Are You Reading 2012 Challenge - Colorado, Idaho (ooh, good one!), New York, Tennessee, England (London), and Germany.  I added one dystopian novel - The Whisper - for a total of 2 so far for my Dystopian Challenge.  For my 12 in 2012 Challenge, I read two books from my TBR shelf, both recommended by my husband:  The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love and Breathless.  I still haven't read any memoirs yet this year, so I will try to fit one in this month.

What were your favorite books read in February?

It's Monday 2/27! What Are You Reading?

Getting a slow start this morning, but I see bright sunshine and two of our four family members are off to school/work, so that's a good start!  Wow, what a weekend.  After a week with both of our sons home sick, I was feeling a bit stir-crazy and desperate for some quiet solitude, so I just left on Friday! 

Some friends loaned me their beach condo for a quiet getaway, and I drove down there to spend 24 hours on my own, taking care of no one but myself.  It was....weird, but good.  It took me a while to actually relax, but the downtime was a welcome respite.  What a strange world where doing dishes takes only two minutes (wash 1 plate, wash 1 fork), and I can do anything I want!  I got 3 hours of audio book time on the way there and back.  I didn't do as much reading as I'd planned because I stopped at the library on my way and picked up the entire 7-hour mini-series of Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, which I read and loved last summer.  I didn't watch the entire series (still have 2 episodes to go), but it was fun to just lie on the couch and escape into the story!

Of course, I returned home to all the same stuff - messy house, sick kids, long to-do list - and spent the rest of the weekend working on some urgent things with looming deadlines, but the time away definitely helped.

So, here's what we read last week:

• I finished middle-grade novel The Whisper by Emma Clayton, sequel to The Roar which my son and I both loved.  I think the first book was a bit better, but this novel provided a satisfying ending.
• Yesterday, I finally started to read Skeletons at the Feast, a novel set in 1945 Europe by Chris Bohjalian, my neighborhood book group's choice for this month.  We meet on Wednesday, so I am afraid there is virtually no chance I can finish this 360-page novel before our discussion.  Since Bohjalian is known for his surprise endings, this could be trouble - I may have to lock myself in the bathroom for part of our discussion.  Damn that 7-hour mini-series!
• I am listening to an audio book, Falling Together by Marisa De los Santos. I enjoyed reading her earlier novel, Love Walked In, and am enjoying this one so far, too. It was fun to lose myself in the story during my drive this weekend, instead of my usual routine of listening in 10-minutes spurts.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading an e-book, Big Lake by Nick Russell, on his Kindle Fire, and Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman, a hardcover novel.
• Jamie, 17, is almost finished with Timeline by Michael Crichton, one of my favorites of Crichton's many exciting novels.  Despite several sick days last week, his reading has slowed down because he's hooked on a video game!  With his brother also home sick last week, they played non-stop (one of the things I was eager to escape from!)
• Craig, 14, is reading The Secret of Pirates Hill, a classic Hardy Boys book and is enjoying the familiar, fast-paced mystery.

I posted two new reviews last week: Breathless by Dean Koontz, a unique and mystical story very different from his horror novels, and The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin, a teen/YA novel about a wilderness reform school that I enjoyed.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, and a kidlit version is hosted at Teach Mentor Texts.) 

Quiet Solitude at the Beach